Purging a lot of gall...
Mar. 22nd, 2002 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpWell, Fritz Hollings (D-Disney) has gone and introduced the newly renamed "Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act" (formerly, the "Security Systems Standards and Certification Act") which would prevent the sale of almost any digital device unless it came equipped with federally mandated (read: entertainment-industry approved) copy protection features.
What particularly galls me about this law is the image of the johnny-come-lately entertainment industry deciding that the digital technologies developed by the electronics industry really need to be redesigned, primarily so that entertainment industry can more easily line its pockets with consumers' money.
What further galls me is that once the concept of government-mandated hardware design takes hold, what's to prevent other "helpful" features from having to be built into one's computer, PDA, cell phone, etc.? (Imagine every computer having to have a mini-Carnivore processor in it, to make sure its owner doesn't watch kiddie smut, or plan a terrorist attack, or do anything else Not Approved Of).
Of course, we can all expect the media outlets, such as ABC News (owned by Disney) to cover this issue fairly and objectively.
And guess who's going to pay for this?
* * * The Supreme Court helped further shred the Fourth Amendment by deciding that it's okay to require high-schoolers who participate in extracurricular programs (e.g., chess club) to submit to a drug test.
Where do I begin with this? To me, it's incredible.
First, it proves that a "conservative" court can be as ideological as a "liberal" one (they just haven't had as much practice).
Next, there's the small fact of the Constitution continuing to take hits below the waterline, but in the wake of the "First Amendment Reform and Congressional Incumbent Protection Act" (which some refer to as "election finance reform"), it's easy to understand why the Fourth Amendment gets no respect in this regard.
Next, and even worse in my opinion, this decision places the official imprimatur on policies designed to desensitize students to the idea that they are not cattle, to be prodded, pricked, and tested whenever Anyone In Authority feels the urge. By the time they reach adulthood, submitting to tests, forking over ID, handing over one's banking statement, and so on will be routine (and, as LJ friend![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bandicoot points out, so one-way... do districts randomly test teachers and administrators for drugs? Ha!).
I can't continue this post... I was going to add something about the so-called election finance reform, but I have successfully worked myself into a blue funk. All I'll note is that the media is ga-ga about it (and why wouldn't they be, as they'll be virtually the only voice to be able to legally criticize political candidates in the last 60 days before an election... and you think that support for the CBDTPA - or some similar monstrosity - won't be linked to that?)
It'd make a great story, but nobody'd print it, or film it.
Cheers...
P.S. The news about the CBDTPA is worse than I thought. According to a Wired story that I read (unwisely, considering I want to lose this blue funk), the law purports to dictate how software is coded, too. Any software capable of displaying "copy protected" digital works will have to toe the line, and you can expect massive government surveillance of the 'net to make sure nobody is sharing non-compliant apps or worse, downloading non-compliant works from abroad.
What particularly galls me about this law is the image of the johnny-come-lately entertainment industry deciding that the digital technologies developed by the electronics industry really need to be redesigned, primarily so that entertainment industry can more easily line its pockets with consumers' money.
What further galls me is that once the concept of government-mandated hardware design takes hold, what's to prevent other "helpful" features from having to be built into one's computer, PDA, cell phone, etc.? (Imagine every computer having to have a mini-Carnivore processor in it, to make sure its owner doesn't watch kiddie smut, or plan a terrorist attack, or do anything else Not Approved Of).
Of course, we can all expect the media outlets, such as ABC News (owned by Disney) to cover this issue fairly and objectively.
And guess who's going to pay for this?
Where do I begin with this? To me, it's incredible.
First, it proves that a "conservative" court can be as ideological as a "liberal" one (they just haven't had as much practice).
Next, there's the small fact of the Constitution continuing to take hits below the waterline, but in the wake of the "First Amendment Reform and Congressional Incumbent Protection Act" (which some refer to as "election finance reform"), it's easy to understand why the Fourth Amendment gets no respect in this regard.
Next, and even worse in my opinion, this decision places the official imprimatur on policies designed to desensitize students to the idea that they are not cattle, to be prodded, pricked, and tested whenever Anyone In Authority feels the urge. By the time they reach adulthood, submitting to tests, forking over ID, handing over one's banking statement, and so on will be routine (and, as LJ friend
bandicoot points out, so one-way... do districts randomly test teachers and administrators for drugs? Ha!).I can't continue this post... I was going to add something about the so-called election finance reform, but I have successfully worked myself into a blue funk. All I'll note is that the media is ga-ga about it (and why wouldn't they be, as they'll be virtually the only voice to be able to legally criticize political candidates in the last 60 days before an election... and you think that support for the CBDTPA - or some similar monstrosity - won't be linked to that?)
It'd make a great story, but nobody'd print it, or film it.
Cheers...
P.S. The news about the CBDTPA is worse than I thought. According to a Wired story that I read (unwisely, considering I want to lose this blue funk), the law purports to dictate how software is coded, too. Any software capable of displaying "copy protected" digital works will have to toe the line, and you can expect massive government surveillance of the 'net to make sure nobody is sharing non-compliant apps or worse, downloading non-compliant works from abroad.
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no subject
Date: 2002-03-22 11:13 pm (UTC)What was the British band playing when Cornwallis surrendered to Washington? The title was something like, "The World Turned Upside Down" ;)